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I visited the pool store today...

I visited a small locally owned pool store during my lunch break. I parked my truck next to their slimy green display pool which literally has larvae floating on top and mosquitos swarming over it! I would have taken a picture to post on here had I not walked out and left my phone in my office.
I went to the counter and purchased a tube of O ring lubricant. (That will probably be the only $5.00 they get from me for a year or two.)
While I was waiting for the clerk to go to the back and get some change for me I overheard a desperate lady talking to the store owner who had just tested her water. He said her numbers looked good except the ph was 7.6 and should never, ever be above 7.5.
Of course he added a bottle of something to "fix" that in the cardboard box full of chemicals she was about to buy. I just smiled politely, bit my tongue and kept my mouth shut. She explained to him that she took the cover off her pool on March 1st has already spent close to $800.00 in his store since then, but the water is still very cloudy and green. She said her grandson cried all weekend because he couldn't go swimming. He actually told her the high ph had to be the reason her pool wouldn't clear up! The clerk returned with my change at that point so I thanked her and walked out. I felt really bad for that lady. The following questions were on my mind as I drove back to work:

1. Why would anyone in their right mind trust the advice of a pool store owner who can't even keep a tiny display pool clean and clear?
2. Is the guy that ignorant about pool care, or just totally dishonest?
3. Why didn't I tell her about TFP and urge her to slowly back away from the counter and run before she got ripped off again???!!!

Re: I visited the pool store today...

I have had similar thoughts. Really should put together some little business cards that we can print and hand out. I know there is a form somewhere in the forums with some cards that can be printed, but I was kind of under-whelmed by them (sorry to whoever designed them )

Re: I visited the pool store today...

I don't understand how people can spend the kind of money they do at pool stores without question, and keep coming back when they never seem to help you fix the problem.

Some of those same people look at you like you have 12 toes if you suggest anything other than the pool store. Fine, suit yourself... but when you're tired of it, I'm happy to share how to do it right and where to find this awesome resource.

Re: I visited the pool store today...

To me pool care can almost become cultish. I have tried to spread the word of TFP's with very little enthusiasm. I can even show them my pool and they do not bite. I need these people to keep spending lots of money at pool stores so that they can stay open as that is where I buy my chlorine. I am not sure a pool store could stay open on just chlorine sales?

Re: I visited the pool store today...

We have friends who have a green pool most of the time. They refuse to let their young kids swim in ours because bleach is poison! OMG, not to mention Borax which is toxic and Cyanuric Acid! You're not supposed to let ACID come in contact with your skin!!!

My daughters are not little anymore. The youngest is almost 18 and the oldest is 23. They know without a doubt our pool is safe and clean. Both of them are very leary of other people's pools, and won't even consider getting in a hotel pool. A friend bought tickets to Whitewater in Atlanta last summer, then her husband got sick and they didn't get to go on their vacation. She gave the tickets to me and the girls flat out refused to go. They said NO WAY would they get in the water at an amusement park! That's just grosssss! LOL

Re: I visited the pool store today...

Originally Posted by Samantha_in_AL

We have friends who have a green pool most of the time. They refuse to let their young kids swim in ours because bleach is poison! OMG, not to mention Borax which is toxic and Cyanuric Acid! You're not supposed to let ACID come in contact with your skin!!!

My daughters are not little anymore. The youngest is almost 18 and the oldest is 23. They know without a doubt our pool is safe and clean. Both of them are very leary of other people's pools, and won't even consider getting in a hotel pool. A friend bought tickets to Whitewater in Atlanta last summer, then her husband got sick and they didn't get to go on their vacation. She gave the tickets to me and the girls flat out refused to go. They said NO WAY would they get in the water at an amusement park! That's just grosssss! LOL

A few years ago, Whitewater closed down because of some water born problem, making people sick. I don't remember the details, but too many people, with too many potential problems. Gross probably is an understatement.

Re: I visited the pool store today...

I think it all centers around knowledge.

Most pool owners get their first pool (installing themselves or buying a house that comes with one) with zero knowledge. In the quest to gain knowledge, they turn to friends and family. They don't have the knowledge, so they end up going to the pool store. The problem with this is that most pool stores don't have the knowledge either. What they have is a license to deal in a particular system, and they have the computer testing hardware and software for that system. I believe that most pool stores aren't out to swindle customers. They just don't know. Some the aforesaid pool owners (if you are reading this then you are likely one of them) are not simply seeking instructions, they are seeking knowledge. After enough visits to the pool store without seeking knowledge, they search for it elsewhere. That search leads them here, where they have their epiphany.

In another thread, gboulton said it best.....

Originally Posted by gboulton

There are those who want to know how and why stuff works. We call them "members of this forum".
There are those who want to be told to do. We call them "pool store customers".

Re: I visited the pool store today...

Heh...thought I smelled my ears burning... (wait...that's not how that goes, is it?)

Maybe I should put that in my sigline?

-GordonPool School helps me maintain my 13,500G 24' x 48" ASP with Sand Filtration using a TF100 Test Kit and Pool Calculator.
Remember, the Shock Process should be followed until : 1. CC is less than 0.5 ppm, 2. An OCLT shows a loss of 1.0 ppm or less and, 3. The water is crystal clear.
--I didn't buy my pool to swim in it. I bought my pool to watch my wife swim in it. :wink:

Re: I visited the pool store today...

Since I have been here, lol all of two days...I have been filling my friend at works ear full of TFP. He just refuses to see that the chemicals are better from the Grocery store as I tell him . I told him TFP has document proof, chemistry proof, everything to prove to you that TFP and BBB is the way to go. He still insists that his pool store tests his water for free, he walks out with just what he needs, and never has a problem, so why should he trust using bleach which is for laundry. How do they say....you can lead them to water....but cant make them drink. I have however interested a lot of fellow workers with my new found knowledge all thanks to TFP and the people who make it this way. I guess I will make some of your business cards and hand them out...id love to drop a hand full in the local Leslie's lol.

Re: I visited the pool store today...

Only here a week or so myself. Two coworkers with pools, one with a "real" AG pool, the other like me, with an Intex moving up through the sizes as the kids grew. Coworker 1 was out of the breakroom when coworker 2 and I were talking pools. He will argue with you forever that the sky is purple and was arguing with me about bleach. "Sure, bleach would work, but it isn't chlorine. You need chlorine in the pool..." He uses 3 bags of shock per week and holds 3 pucks in his pool (filter, floater, I don't know where he has them.) As he was ranting on about how bleach isn't chlorine, coworker 1 reentered and stated, "Read the label, pool chlorine and bleach have the exact same ingredient as is the chlorine ingredient in your shock and pucks."

Oh, and after adding 3 bags of "shock" and putting in the 3 pucks, he was still measuring a level of 0 for CC, so he added more.

Re: I visited the pool store today...

Originally Posted by Smykowski

I think it all centers around knowledge.

Most pool owners get their first pool (installing themselves or buying a house that comes with one) with zero knowledge. In the quest to gain knowledge, they turn to friends and family. They don't have the knowledge, so they end up going to the pool store. In another thread, gboulton said it best.....

Originally Posted by gboulton

There are those who want to know how and why stuff works. We call them "members of this forum".
There are those who want to be told to do. We call them "pool store customers".

I can totally relate to the new pool owner situation. When we did not understand how the chemicals work and had relied on the pool services to take care of business, the whole process sounded complicated and intimidating. After we fired the pool guys and found this forum, dealing with the chemicals for the pool water became much easier. I was told by a friend to take water samples to a pool store for testing and advice after the pool guys were gone. Did that for a few weeks and bought a few things but did not understand why. After I found this fourm, there was no going back to relying on someone else maintaining the chemicals in our pool. I told the friend about this forum but he still prefers to buy the shocks and use them every now and then.

Re: I visited the pool store today...

I had forgotten how much I hate going into the pool store until I went today to buy tri chlor. The kid tried to sell me everything but what I wanted, simple trichlor to get my pool started. The pool store doesn't carry plain 10%, only tri and di chlor. (So Aldis's here we go.) I've been doing this since I found the original pool group years ago, and my pool is clear and bright! I did end up buying some new gaskets for the DE filter. Left there $52, less but still better than everyone else that spent a minimum of $100.